Courtesy of M.J. Ryan

Really. What do you want more of in your life? More peace? More time off? More fun? More inner tranquility?

Unless we identify what it is that we truly want, we tend to be so caught up in daily life that we don't even think about what will make us truly happy. Today, ask yourself what you want more of in your life, and then live with the question all day: How can I have more ______ in my life? Just ask; don't worry about an answer. Don't squash the question with buts and what-ifs, just let it reverberate in your consciousness.

When I ask myself that question today, the answer is more meaning. So I wonder how to bring more meaning into my life. As I sit with my wondering, more questions emerge: what is meaning to me? Does it involve other people, or is it primarily internal? How would I know it if I had it?

I don't try to answer any of these questions definitively. I just let them swirl around in my consciousness. As they do, I often find an answer pops up—usually sometime later, even weeks or months later, from somewhere unexpected: a book, a friend, a thought that occurs while driving.

As Rilke says, "Be patient with the questions themselves."